Lock mechanism for a vehicle door

ABSTRACT

A rotary-latch lock, specifically for the door of a vehicle, has a rotary locking assembly, a pivotally supported intermediate lever that meshes with the assembly and a pivotally supported main actuating lever with one end urged into contact with the intermediate lever by a spring connected to the other end. The force of the spring is overcome by external force applied to a power transmitting organ connected to the main lever. The surface of the intermediate lever that is contacted by the main lever has a curvature such that the contact is essentially at a point or line on the intermediate lever. Also, the origins for the radii of curvature for the surface are located on the side of the pivot point of the intermediate lever that is farthest from the locking assembly. With this arrangement the force of the main lever on the intermediate lever does not impair the functioning of the lock.

United States Patent [1 1 Klebba Dec. 30, I975 LOCK MECHANISM FOR A VEHICLE DOOR [75] Inventor: Horst Klebba,Weyhausen, Germany [73] Assignee: Volkswagenwcrk Aktiengesellsehatt,

Wolfsburg, Germany [22] Filed: Aug. 1, 1974 [2!] Appl. No.: 493,926

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 2,013,690 9/1971 Gennany 292/216 6,700,395 1/l968 Netherlands 292/216 Primary Examiner-Roy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner-Rodney H. Bonck Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Brumbaugh, Graves,

Donohue & Raymond [57] ABSTRACT A rotary-latch lock, specifically for the door of a vehicle, has a rotary locking assembly, a pivotally sup ported intermediate lever that meshes with the assembly and a pivotally supported main actuating lever with one end urged into contact with the intermediate lever by a spring connected to the other end. The force of the spring is overcome by external force applied to a power transmitting organ connected to the main lever. The surface of the intennediate lever that Rflerfllm Cmd is contacted by the main lever has a curvature such UNITED STATES PATENTS that the contact is essentially at a point or line on the 2,644,707 7/1953 Dall 292/216 imemsdim Alsot origins for the radii of 2,795,448 6/1957 Johnson 292 21 curvature for the surface are located on the side of the 2,835,526 5/l958 Voorhees. 292/216 pivot point of the intermediate lever that is farthest 3,20l,l63 8l|96$ Pickles......... 292/2l6 from the locking assembly. With this'arrangement the 3.236.551 2/1966 u 291/216 X force of the main lever on the intermediate lever does 3,381,993 5/1968 Arlauskas 292/216 not impair he functioning of the |ck. 3,695,662 10/1972 Ploughman 292/216 3,730,575 5/1973 Arlauskas et al. 292/216 5 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure 2 l T [I l r a I 4 i I l 11 I l 13 I 30 I I i l I 9 22 P 20 291 121: 15 a I 6 5 l! L l i o I l l 7 .2 1 *-.-i-tf I 1 1 ET! i a 10 2 1 I 19 i 3 g l 15 n l g 5 I l I V l l 1 I I I I b 21 U.S. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 w I E l u L ,m u 1 m B l. 1 2 3 1 6 m H 2 1 y. u w J v w "H C r n 1 z/lfir P l X! b m 1 L 1 2 1 7 2 A 6 m.- a I Ill Ill Ill... m s\\Lm. 2 a

LOCK MECHANISM FOR A VEHICLE DOOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to door locks and, more particularly, to rotary-latch locks for vehicle doors.

A rotary-latch lock used with sliding doors is described in published German patent application (Oi fenlegungsschrift) No. 2,013,690. This lock has a locking assembly that is locked in place by a pivotally supported intermediate lever with which it meshes. The position of the intermediate lever is in turn controlled by a pivotally supported main lever that is urged into contact with the intermediate lever by a tensioning spring. Contact between the two levers is relieved by force applied over a power transmitting organ connected to the main lever.

When locking assembly is urged into its closing position, it causes the intermediate lever to rotate into a stopping position. In the stopping position the intermediate lever is held in place by the main lever under the influence of the spring, thereby preventing the locking assembly from returning to its opening position. To release the lock, force is manually applied to the power transmitting organ causing the main lever to be disengaged from the intermediate lever. Then the locking assembly is rotated into its opening position. This causes the intermediate lever to move into a position where it can be held by the force of the spring loaded main lever bearing against a stop on the intermediate lever.

However, it has been found that when a stop is used the rotary latch can be secured in any position whatever, due to the large spring and friction forces. In this connection it must be noted that the spring acting on the main actuating lever is generally so strong that on assembly of the lock in a sliding door, the spring causes the movement of the slidng door out of the associated door opening plane into a different sliding plane. Thus, it may occur that the spring tension, which is made large with a view to the opening movement of the door, causes the frictional conditions to become so unfavorable that in the course of opening of the door, the lock sticks in its closing position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the purpose of the invention to design a rotarylatch lock, having an intermediate lever and a springloaded main lever, in such a manner that the force exerted by the spring acting on the main actuating lever during the main levers contact with the intermediate lever does not have any inhibiting effect on the functioning of the lock. This purpose is achieved in accordance with the invention by having the main actuating lever contact the intermediate lever on a curved surface of the intermediate lever that is designed such that the contact between the levers occurs along points on the surface of the intermediate lever whose radii of curvature extend from the side of the swivel axis of the intermediate lever facing away from the locking assembly.

In an illustrative embodiment of the invention the rotary-latch lock for the vehicle door has a rotary locking assembly consisting of a closing block attached to the door frame, a rotary-latch operated by the closing block and a locking element rigidly connected to the rotary latch by an axle. A nose on the locking element meshes with a slot in a pivotally supported intermediate lever. The intermediate lever is provided with a stop and a curved surface that operate with a pivotally supported main actuating lever. One end of the main lever is connected to a spring that urges the main lever into contact with the stop or curved surface of the interme diate lever. To overcome this spring force at appropriate times, a power transmitting organ is connected to the other end of the main lever.

When the vehicle door is closed the rotary latch is rotated by contact with the closing block. This rotary motion is transmitted through the locking element to the intermediate lever, causing it to pivot into a position in which the main lever, under the influence of the spring, will bear against the stop surface on the intermediate lever. In this way the intermediate lever is prevented from rotating back to its opening position and, consequently the locking assembly is held in its closed position. To open the door, force is applied to the power transmitting organ disengaging the main lever from the stop. This allows the intermediate lever to pivot due to the rotary force developed as the rotary latch is pressed against the closing block during the opening of the door. On release of the force on the power transmitting organ, the spring loaded main lever then bears against the curved surface of the intermediate lever to hold it in its opening position.

This curved surface is designed so that the contact between the two levers occurs along points on the surface of the intermediate lever whose radii of curvature originate from points on the side of the pivot point of the intermediate lever that faces away from the locking assembly. Consequently, there are forces acting on the intermediate lever, due to the spring acting on the main actuating lever, that act to pivot the intermediate lever in the direction that corresponds to the opening motion of the rotary latch. As a result, the influence of the disturbing frictional forces at the points of contact between the main actuating lever and the intermediate lever are largely reduced.

The main actuating lever may also be designed to reduce the effect of frictional forces by providing it with an undercut with respect to the surface of the intermediate lever. This ensures an essentially point or line shaped contact between the two levers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The foregoing and other features of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description and drawing of an illustrative embodiment of the rotary-latch lock of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT The drawing depicts a rotary-latch lock from outside of the vehicle door in which it is installed. The door, which is indicated by its face plate I, is mounted in a door frame 2. The lock has a rotary locking assembly 30 consisting of a rotary latch 4 collaborating with a closing block 3 fastened to the door frame 2. The rotary latch 4 is attached in a torsion-resistant manner to a shaft 5, that passes through the door face plate I and the customary reinforcements to locking element 6. Like the latch 4, the locking element 6 is attached to the shaft 5 in a torsion-resistant manner. The locking element 6 has a nose 7 that projects into a slot 8 in an intermediate lever 9. The intermediate lever 9 is pivotally supported by an axle I0 and is acted on by one end 3 of a tension spring 11. The other end of spring I] is fixed to a stationary member.

The rotary-latch lock also has a main actuating lever 12 that is supported by an axle 13 which is parallel to the axle 10. This main lever is a two-armed lever whose upper arm 14 is designed for attachment of a power transmitting organ l (e.g., a Bowden wire) leading to the door handle. In this example the organ l5 constitutes a component of a remotely operated lock. The lower arm 16 of the main actuating lever 12 is attached at eye 2] to a comparatively large-sized tension spring 17. As long as no force for opening of the lock is introduced over the power-transmitting organ 15, the tension spring 17 moves the main actuating lever 12 counterclockwise into positions in which it bears in some manner against the intermediate lever 9.

The FIGURE shows the operating state in which the opening force indicated by the arrow 18 is introduced by way of the Bowden wire 15. Accordingly, the main actuating lever 12 at this instant does not bear on the intermediate lever 9 and the apparatus is in an intermediate position. In this intermediate position, the spring 11 has somewhat swivelled the intermediate lever 9, so that the walls of clearance 8 have swivelled the rotary latch 4 a little in the clockwise direction, i.e., in accordance with the arrow 19. Through the force of the spring 11 or a manually exerted opening force, the arrangement composed of the parts 4, 5, 6 and 9 can now be further swivelled in the direction of the arrow 19 so that the closing block 3, upon opening of the door, is no longer in the path of the shank of the rotary latch 4 (shown in the FIGURE as the rear shank). In this opening position, the intermediate lever 9 has assumed the end position 9a, indicated in dots and dashes, and the main actuating lever 12, which has assumed the position 12a, bears on its curved surface 20. In the operating position indicated in full line, the eye 21 on the bottom end of the main lever 12 is in the position in space indicated by I, but in the operating position indicated in dots and dashes, with the rotary latch opened, the main lever has been swivelled to position II.

When the door is closed, the shank of the rotary latch 4 (shown in the FIGURE as the front shank) strikes the closing block 3 and swivels the locking assembly 30 in the opposite direction of the arrow 19. The nose 7 takes along the intermediate lever 9 in opposition to the force of the spring 1 1 so that it assumes the position shown in full line. Since no force is transmitted over the force-transmitting organ at this point in time, the main actuating lever 12 under the effect of the tension spring 17 enters the recess or stop 22 in the intermediate lever 9, so that it is secure against further motion in the clockwise direction. Since the intermediate lever 9 can no longer perform clockwise rotations, the rotary latch 4 is also secured against movements in the direction of the arrow 19 and opening of the door is impossible. In this locked or checked position, the main actuating lever 12 accordingly assumes a position that is suggested by the position III of the eye 21 in the FIGUREv To release the main lever 12 from the recess or stop 22 on the intermediate lever, force must be applied to the main lever over organ 15. This will allow a slight clockwise rotation of intermediate lever 9 because of the spring 11, thus returning the apparatus to the position shown in full line in the drawing, i.e., position I for eye 21. During the clockwise movement of the intermediate lever 9 that occurs on disengagement of the lock (Le, on swivelling of the rotary latch in the direction of the arrow 19) the main actuating lever slides with its upper end region 23 of surface 24 on the sliding surface 20 of the intermediate lever. Large frictional forces may be produced by this contact because of the large size of the tension spring 17 used to secure the movement of the intermediate lever 9 and the rotary assembly 30 in various positions. To reduce the undesirable effect of the frictional forces the sliding surface 20 is provided with a curvature such that the radii of curvature r along all points of contact between surface 20 and the region 23 of surface 24 of the main actuating lever 12 originate (with reference to the FIGURE) to the right of the axis 10 of the intermediate lever 9. This is represented in the FIGURE for a possible point of contact P. The corresponding condition applies to all other points of contact occuring during the relative movement between the sliding surface 20 and the region 23 of the main actuating lever 12. By this selection of the shape of the curvature of the surface 20, it is ensured that the region 23, under the effect of the tension spring 17, exerts a force on the intermediate lever 9 that causes it to turn in the clockwise direction, thereby assuring that the frictional forces do not cause it to stick in the closed position.

This measure is assisted by a corresponding shaping of the surface 24 of the main actuating lever 12 that faces the sliding surface 20. As suggested at a in the FIGURE, the surface 24 is provided with an undercut relative to the shape of the sliding surface 20, whereby an essentially point or line shaped contact between the levers 9 and I2 is achieved. In effect, region 23 is reduced to a thin area.

As a result of the shaping of the surfaces 20 and 24, the opening of the lock, characterized in the FIGURE by the region of motion b between positions I and II, causes the introduction of a force component from tension spring 17 to the intermediate lever 9 that assists the rotation of the intermediate lever 9 in clockwise direction in the FIGURE and, thereby, assists the swivelling of the rotary latch 4 into its opening position. On locking of the lock, characterized in the FIGURE by the region of motion c between positions I and III, the main lever 12 is seated in the recess 22 of the intermediate lever 9, likewise under the force of spring 17.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An improved rotary-latch lock, preferably for the door of a vehicle, having a rotary locking assembly, a pivotally supported intermediate lever that meshes with said locking assembly, a pivotally supported main actu ating lever, and a main spring connected to one end of said main lever for urging the other end of said main lever into contact with said intermediate lever, said intermediate lever being rotatable in a direction to open the lock and in a direction to close the lock, said main spring forcing said main lever against a first surface of sid intermediate lever during the opening of said lock, wherein the improvement comprises means tending to rotate the intermediate lever in the opening direction, said means including a curvature of said first surface of said intermediate lever such that contact between said intermediate and main levers along said to ensure an essentially line shaped contact between said levers.

3. A lock as claimed in claim I wherein said locking assembly comprises a closing block attached to a frame for the door, a rotary latch arranged in the door for rotation upon contact with said closing block, a locking element arranged in said door having a nose member that meshes with a recess in said intermediate lever, and a shaft torsion-resistantly connecting said locking element to said rotary latch.

4. A lock as claimed in claim 3 further including a stop surface on said intermediate lever and a power transmitting organ for moving said main lever away from said intermediate lever against the force of said main spring, whereby, on the one hand, movement of said rotary latch against said closing block causes said rotary latch, said locking element and said intermediate lever to swivel into their closing position and allows said main spring to move said main lever against the stop surface of said intermediate lever to lock said rotary latch against opening and, on the other hand, force applied to said power transmitting organ disengages said main lever from said stop, allows said rotary latch to rotate and said main lever to contact the first surface of said intermediate lever.

5. A lock as claimed in claim 4 further including a second spring attached to said intermediate lever in such a way as to cause a slight rotation of said interme diate lever toward its opening position when the main lever is out of contact with it. 

1. An improved rotary-latch lock, preferably for the door of a vehicle, having a rotary locking assembly, a pivotally supported intermediate lever that meshes with said locking assembly, a pivotally supported main actuating lever, and a main spring connected to one end of said main lever for urging the other end of said main lever into contact with said intermediate lever, said intermediate lever being rotatable in a direction to open the lock and in a direction to close the lock, said main spring forcing said main lever against a first surface of sid intermediate lever during the opening of said lock, wherein the improvement comprises means tending to rotate the intermediate lever in the opening direction, said means including a curvature of said first surface of said intermediate lever such that contact between said intermediate and main levers along said first surface occurs at points of said first surface whose radii of curvature extend along lines which pass the pivotal support of said intermediate lever on a side thereof such that the force applied to said intermediate lever by said main lever due to said main spring tends to rotate said intermediate lever in the opening direction.
 2. A lock as claimed in claim 1 wherein a further improvement comprises shaping the surface of said main actuating lever that contacts said first surface to have an undercut with respect to said first surface so as to ensure an essentially line shaped contact between said levers.
 3. A lock as claimed in claim 1 wherein said locking assembly comprises a closing block attached to a frame for the door, a rotary latch arranged in the door for rotation upon contact with said closing block, a locking element arranged in said door having a nose member that meshes with a recess in said intermediate lever, and a shaft torsion-resistantly connecting said locking element to said rotary latch.
 4. A lock as claimed in claim 3 further including a stop surface on said intermediate lever and a power transmitting organ for moving said main lever away from said intermediate lever against the force of said main spring, whereby, on the one hand, movement of said rotary latch against said closing block causes said rotary latch, said locking element and said intermediate lever to swivel into their closing position and allows said main spring to move said main lever against the stop surface of said intermediate lever to lock said rotary latch against opening and, on the other hand, force applied to said power transmitting organ disengages said main lever from said stop, allows said rotary latch to rotate and said main lever to contact the first surface of said intermediate lever.
 5. A lock as claimed in claim 4 further including a second spring attached to said intermediate lever in such a way as to cause a slight rotation of said intermediate lever toward its opening position when the main lever is out of contact with it. 